“We had great play from our leaders,” said Joel Johnson, head coach of the 2018 U.S. Under-18 Women’s National Team. “Our older players, returners and captains stepped up when we needed them the most and helped rally the group. It’s a real honor to have the opportunity to play for gold tomorrow."

The victory gives Team USA (2-2-0-0/W-OTW-OTL-L) its 11th consecutive berth in the event's gold-medal game, which takes place tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. ET against Sweden. Tomorrow's game will be live streamed at TeamUSA.USAHockey.com.

Captain Taylor Heise (Lake City, Minn.) gave Team USA a 1-0 lead 8:33 into play with her fourth goal in as many games. The play started when Gracie Ostertag (Shakopee, Minn.) took a slap shot from the right circle that deflected off of Heise’s skate and into the net.

Canada tied the game with 4:47 left in the opening period when Zoe Boyd’s wrist shot from the point found its way through traffic and past goaltender Reed. The teams remained even heading into the first intermission.

Allexis Adzija deflected a shot to give Canada the lead with 6:31 remaining in the middle stanza before Emily Rickwood scored 3:22 later to double the advantage.

Casey O’Brien (Milton, Mass.) put the U.S. within one goal of Canada on the power play when she one-timed a pass in front of the net from Webster, 6:22 into the third period.

Kelly Browne (Burlington, Mass.) netted the equalizer 3:14 after O'Brien's tally when she caught a rebound and buried it past Canadian netminder Madelyn McArthur. Team USA had multiple scoring opportunities in the final minutes of the third on two different power plays, but could not convert, forcing overtime.

A scoreless 10-minute 4-on-4 overtime forced the game to a shootout. After allowing a goal to Canada's first shooter, Reed made four consecutive saves, including a stop in round five, to seal the victory alongside goals from Curl and Webster.

NOTES: Casey O'Brien was named U.S. Player of the Game … Team USA outshot Canada, 35-25, went 1-for-10 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill … For full game statistics, clickhere … Reagan Carey (Colorado Springs, Colo.), USA Hockey’s director of women’s hockey, is the general manager of the 2018 U.S. Under-18 Women’s National Team … Joining Johnson as an associate coach is Maura Crowell (Mansfield, Mass.), head women's ice hockey coach at the University of Minnesota Duluth, while Courtney Kennedy (Woburn, Mass.), associate head women's ice hockey coach at Boston College, is serving as an assistant coach … Team USA has played in the gold-medal game in all 10 of the previous IIHF Under-18 Women’s World Championships, capturing the event’s top prize six times (2008, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2017). The U.S. holds an all-time record of 44-5-3-2 (W-OTW-OTL-L) in 54 games at the IIHF Under-18 Women’s World Championship ... USA Hockey’s international council, chaired by Gavin Regan (Potsdam, N.Y.), vice president of USA Hockey, has oversight responsibilities for all U.S. teams that compete internationally.